University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Place Five at UNI Open
12/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Five Gophers traveled to Cedar Falls on Saturday to compete unattached at the UNI Open and all five placed, including top-three performances from Ethan Lizak, Bobby Steveson and Will Balow, and finals appearances for both Lizak and Steveson.
For the second straight tournament, Lizak overwhelmed the competition at 125 pounds and marched to the tournament title. After an opening round bye, Lizak pinned his first opponent in less than a minute before earning tech falls over a pair of unattached Northern Iowa wrestlers in the semifinals and finals by identical scores, 19-2. All 11 of Lizak's wins this season have come by either fall or tech fall.
Steveson wrestled for the 197-pound crown for the third time in three college tournaments. He recorded his first two collegiate tech falls on Saturday and tied a career-best by putting up 20 points in a 20-5 victory in the semifinals. Steveson dropped a 5-3 decision in sudden victory overtime in the title bout to finish second in the event.
At 184 pounds, Balow turned in a season-best third-place performance with a pair of late first-period pins in wrestlebacks after dropping his opening match of the tournament. Balow avenged that 7-6 loss in the opening round, pinning the same opponent - Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin) - at 2:54 of the third-place match.
Also in action for the Gophers at UNI were Colin Carr, who went 4-2 with a pin and a tech fall to take fifth place at 165 pounds, and Larry Early III, who advanced to the 157 semfinals before dropping a 2-1 decision. Early finished sixth.
Full match-by-match results are available below.
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Match Results
125
Ethan Lizak (3-0, 1st Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Quarters: Ethan Lizak fall (0:59) Connor Murphy (Luther)
Semis: Ethan Lizak tech fall Jacob Schwarm (Northern Iowa), 19-2
Finals: Ethan Lizak tech fall Leighton Gaul (Northern Iowa), 19-2
157
Larry Early (2-1, 6th Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Larry Early dec Logan Peterson (South Dakota State), 9-6
Quarters: Larry Early maj dec Izzac Suarez (Luther), 15-5
Semis: Renaldo Rodriguez (Iowa State) dec Larry Early, 2-1
Cons Semis: Santonio Cathery (Wisconsin) forfeit Larry Early
5th Place: Daniel Kelly (Iowa State) forfeit Larry Early
165
Colin Carr (4-2, 5th Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bye
Champ Rnd 2: Colin Carr dec John Pint (Luther), 8-2
Quarters: Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa) fall (1:33) Colin Carr
Round of 12: Colin Carr tech fall John Pint (Luther), 16-0
Cons Quarters Colin Carr fall (1:16) B Poray
Cons Semis: S Jenkins dec Colin Carr, 10-6
5th Place: Colin Carr forfeit Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa)
184
Will Balow (2-1, 3rd Place)
Quarters: Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin) dec Will Balow, 7-6
Cons Rnd 1: Bye
Cons Semis: Will Balow fall (2:46) Adam Drain (Northern Iowa)
3rd Place: Will Balow fall (2:54) Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin)
197
Bobby Steveson (3-1, 2nd Place)
Champ Rnd 1: Bobby Steveson tech fall Caleb Ward (South Dakota State), 19-3
Quarters: Bobby Steveson dec David Chadd (Wisconsin), 11-5
Semis: Bobby Steveson tech fall Jamal Vaughns (Luther), 20-5
Finals: Cody Krumweide (Northern Iowa) dec (SV-1) Bobby Steveson, 5-3
Players Mentioned
